Monday, November 25, 2013

Tea: Irish Breakfast Tea by Twinings


A classic cup of black tea with milk and sugar is probably my favourite part of my mornings. Having such early classes in the chilly winter is not fun. What's better than coming home and making yourself a hot cup of tea that sits in between your hands? 

Today, my cup of tea is Irish Breakfast from Twinings. It's one of the heavier blends of black tea and it has the perfect bold taste, even after you add the milk and sugar! 

Susan 


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Tea: Lady Grey Tea

I was strolling down the aisles of my local grocery store back home when the tea section literally got my head turning. I just couldn't stop myself from having my eyes glued to the boxes and boxes of tea.  



Oh, lucky me. Twining's Classic Variety Pack was on SALE and it found it's place in my shopping cart. 

Already, I own Twining's massive 100 bag of their Earl Grey Tea - which is awesome for baking! But, trying the other classic black teas is making me fall in love with Twining's even more.

This variety pack is probably one of the best variety packs I've come across with bagged teas. Definitely a great buy to give you options for your daily tea time.

So, today, my cup of tea is the Lady Grey! Just a tiny little twist to my usual Earl Grey.

-Susan

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Beauty: Fall Skincare Routine

I FINALLY have the lowdown of my skincare regime. Bumpy, literally, months for my face and tons of problems, but it's slowly calming down. I am still breaking out due to other factors, but my skin is DRY-SKIN no more...I hope. 

Costed me an arm and a leg, plus tons of research, time, help, and trials - I am finally happy with what I am doing now. 

A majority of the help goes to the awesome aestheticians at Pure + Simple Spa - who are loaded with information and guidance! I have completely hopped on the boat for natural skincare...and it feels AMAZING to know that I'm doing some good to myself daily. 

So, sit down and read on...this will be a long one!


I absolutely LOVED the cleansing gel, but they stopped selling it at Sephora. So, pretty much, when I ran out...I got desperate and settled with the Foaming Cleanser. But, lucky me, I went into a boutique and they were selling REN products - I was able to be reunited with the cleansing gel! Since I got both, I'm using both - they are made with more or less the same ingredients, so it won't make my skin react to it dramatically as I hop around the two. I leave the foaming cleanser at my boyfriend's house, so I don't have to carry around my huge face ritual every time I spend the weekend there.

I tend to apply the face wash around my dry face first and then slowly incorporate a little water before I wash it completely off. 


You may have read an old post from me about toners. I only incorporated a toner into my skincare routine less than a year ago and now, I love it! This toner is great, because it's all natural (of course!) and it does not contain any alcohol which would dry out my skin. The smell will be a hit and miss for everyone, but I love the smell of this...I must say, it's a really relaxing type of smell or something. I use 2-3 pumps each time, rub it all over my hand, and then I press it in around my face. 


This have recently been incorporated into my skincare routine the last month. But, I really see a difference in hydration with my skin from using this. One pump is more than enough for my skin and it helps reduce the tightness feel that I used to have with my dry skin.  

Martina Gebhardt Black Mud Facial Lotion ($54.95 CDN) + Jojoba Oil 

My skin is dehydrated with few breakouts happening here and there - but, when I breakout, they are huge ones. This lotion is perfect in balancing you out - it gives you an adequate amount of hydration, while helping to clear out the acne. This was the perfect moisturizer that I needed over the summer, but when fall started to settle in, I needed more hydration. Adding a drop of jojoba oil and one pump of this lotion together is a miracle worker on my skin. It makes my skin super soft and I couldn't ask for anything better than this. 


I'm still on the hunt for a new eye cream. Lately, from PMS-ing and stress, my under eye area have been extremely puffy and dark. This eye cream doesn't take it away, but it does help in brightening up the area just a tad bit. Since you don't need a lot, I can see this tiny tub lasting me quite sometime. I only use this in the morning. 

So, with tons of research for a hydrating eye cream for the night - I have my eyes on the Origins EyeDoctor, Just Pure Hydrating Eye Cream, or Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

So, this is it! I really have a love for skincare and believe makeup won't do anything if you don't have a proper base for it. Absolutely believe it is worth investing in a good and natural skincare routine - people do tend to forget that your skin is the largest organ and what you put on it gets absorbed into your body. 

Very happy with this routine and as much as I hope I don't have to change routines again, new products have come in and out as I have a serious addiction of trying new things.

I hope y'all all enjoy this lengthy post!

-Susan

P.S. Tell me what your skincare routine is! Share in the comments below or e-mail them to me!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Food: Easy Chocolate Chip (+Mint!) Cookies

As midterm season has come to hit us, all I can think of is baking lately.

A housemate was studying all day and at one point, he just says "I want chocolate chip cookies."

So, a quick online search - we found a really simple recipe and we vamped it up to what we had around our house...and it was delicious!



Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup of margarine (I usually use unsalted butter, but we didn't have that around at the time!)
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup of flour (we used all-purpose)
1 bar of Lindt Excellence Intense Mint
1 Bar of Hershey Milk Chocolate


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
 Chop up the two chocolate bars in tiny pieces.
Mix the margarine and sugar together.
Add the egg and mix until it is well incorporated.
Mix in the flour.
Add in the chocolate bits. Give it a quick stir.
Roll the cookie dough in balls and place onto your prepared cookie sheet.
Pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

And here is another easy batch of cookies to enjoy!

<3 

Susan

P.S. Sorry I've been horrible at taking photos of the process - I promise to get back to doing those soon! :)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Life: Something new - 5 things that made me happy this week.

I don't usually share a lot about my personal life on this blog with y'all. But, a little something has inspired me to make a new category of posts...including a more regular consistent basis for me to update this blog! 

As I started on some new meds, it completely turned me 180 degrees. I was literally depressed the last 5-6 weeks and I didn't realize till I finally hit rock bottom. At that point, I quickly stop taking the meds and went back to the doctor clinic for new ones. And now, the tears have dried up and I'm (almost!) back to the happy Susan that I've always been. 

The power of drugs really act fast and I'm so relieved that I'm no longer on those stupid ones! 

BUT...

To keep my progress of finding myself again, I am for sure updating weekly on the things that made me smile for that week. It really helps me remind myself of the person I was before that whole phase - the person who used to love to appreciate the small things and always find the bright side to situations.

So, back to the purpose of this blog post:




1. Old photos - I went home for a day and I came across old family photo albums. It's crazy to see baby/childhood photos and realize where you are now. My parents are not photographers and probably had a lot of difficulty taking good photos...but, that's the beauty of this - it was hilarious to find what they did actually catch as a memory forever.

2. Baking - I'm back! I'm back! I'm back at baking. I made two batches of cookies this weekend and the feeling of mixing, rolling, and watching the cookies turn golden have never felt this good before. I blogged about the super easy peanut butter cookies yesterday and the super easy chocolate chip cookies post are coming soon! 

3.  Tea...green tea to be specific! After moving back to university, I found myself not drinking tea as daily as I used to. But, this past week, I've been hooked onto green tea. It's really nice to find myself loving the things I used to love so much! There are three green teas that I've been steeping this week: Stash Organic Green Tea, David's Tea Silk Dragon Jasmine, and David's Tea Japanese Sencha. Mmmm.

4. Friends, friends, and more friends - For Canadian Thanksgiving, I was able to go home for the weekend and see all my friends back at home. It really made me feel better that these friends are always going to be by my side and we all enjoy each other's company over food, tea, and alcohol. I don't know how much I really came to appreciate all the friends that are still in my life - even after moving away from home. And of course, those who I met during residence - those who actually kept in touch and made an effort to do so. You gals and guys all warm my heart...really. I can't ever forgive myself for taking them all for granted the last month - and I promised myself to never let that happen again. The amount of smiles I got from all these individuals in my life this week have been one of the best feelings ever. (Thank you for those friends that are reading this blog!)

And last but not least,

5. My boyfriend - seriously the one guy who stuck by side even when I became a monster with my emotions and lost myself completely. Even after all that, he still makes me smile each and every day knowing that everything will go back to the way it was before...eventually.

Time will heal everything, but it's the wait that gets me impatient. Until then, I'm just grateful for all the amazing things and people that are in my life. 

<3

Susan

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Food: Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Tonight was a baking night.

I haven't baked in a while and I felt the urge to make something the last few days...it's literally a natural high for me to put on oven mitts or something. But, putting my student laziness into the equation, I wasn't motivated to make something fancy.

That's when I came across a recipe from Kraft Foods for Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies. No...it literally is the easiest recipe for cookies...ever!



Adapted from Kraft:

1 cup of peanut butter (I used Extra Smooth)
1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar
1 Egg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix the ingredients together. 
Form balls and place on the baking sheet. 
Bake for 20 minutes. 
Let them cool.
Enjoy.

Optional: For an extra touch, sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the cookies right when you take them out of the oven. It gives it a unique touch to them.

As simple as that, you get a fresh batch of cookies.

<3

Susan

P.S. I know you are suppose to use parchment paper to bake, but I didn't have any with me - so aluminum foil will have to do the job!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Beauty: What I use Jojoba Oil for

A few years ago, I went to visit my cousin down in the sunny California. Been over 10 years since we seen each other and it was crazy to find out how similar we were. It must be in the family genes! 

She was a huge fan of jojoba oil and I was pretty confused with why someone would ever rub any type of oil all over their face. But, after her explanation and my own research, I picked up a bottle myself last winter and I'm happy I did. 

A little bottle can last a very long time. Completely multipurpose - it's definitely worth giving it a try.

I wanted to share with y'all what I usually use jojoba oil for!

1. Eyelashes - I probably cry every time an eyelash falls off my eye lids. Already, I have short, stubby, and sparse eyelashes. The jojoba is great at moisturizing them and help reduce the number of fallouts. 

2. Face - As a dry skin girl, sometimes your lotion and cream is just not enough. Adding a drop or two of jojoba oil with a pump of my lotion daily/nightly has given me the perfect balance for my skin. 

3. Lips - When I make a DIY lip scrub (let me know if any of you are interested in a post about this), I always have the need to add jojoba oil for extra moisture. Again, a drop or two is more than enough for your lips! 

4. Hair - This is something new that I've recently heard of. Putting jojoba oil on the ends of my hair will help tame the split ends. My hair is one of the most messiest and untameable hair possible - and these little things will help in the long run!

As of right now, I'm using 100% Pure Jojoba Oil by Desert Essence. It was easily found in my local organic store. I have my eyes on two other brands to try in the future - Aura Cacia Certified Organic Jojoba Skin Care Oil and Pure+Simple Jojoba Oil.

Jojoba oil has been a life saver in my life. 

-Susan